Tubular-frame joint



(No Mode.) 2 sheets-;sheet T'. B. JEPPBRY. TUBULAR FRAMB JOINT.

No. 575,353 Patented Jan. 19, 1897.

(No Model.) 5 2 sheets sheet 2.

T;B.JEPPBRY.

4 TUBULAR' FRAME JOINT. 4 No. 575,353. 5 Patented Jan. 19,1897.

UNrrno TATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS B. JEFFERY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TUBULAR-FRAME JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 575,353, dated January 19, 1897.

Application filecl May 16, 1895. Serial No. 549,488. (No moiell flo all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that l, THOMAS B. J EFFERY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ohicago,county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented and used certain new and useful Improvements in Tubular-Frame J oints, which are fully set forth in the following specification, reference being had to the aceompanying drawings, formingapartthereof.

The purpose of this invention is to provide an improved means for rigidly joining the tubular parts of frames such as are conmonly employed for velocipedes, avoiding the necessity of making apertures for screws or rivets or other similar fastenings, and avoiding; also the necessity of heating the tube to so high a degree as would be necessary for the purpose of brazing or brass-soldering and at the same time obtaining a perfectly-reliable junction and stiff joint with the minimum weight.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a bicycle-frame with the position of the wheel suggested. Fig. 2 is an enlarged section at the line 2 2 on Fig. 1.` Fig. 3 is a detail section at the line 3 -t on Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrow 3, showing a side elevation of the joint at the crank-axle bearing. Fig. at is a section at the line 3 4 on Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrow 4. Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 3, but illustrating a slight modification in respect to the form of the long socket in the j unction-piece. Figs. 6 and 7 are perspectives of joint-iittings involving this invention, having modified forms of the long socket for a tubular arm of the frame.

The characteristic element in this invention is a novel j unction-piece or j oint-fitting,which may be of metal tubing and is preferably made out of steel tubing formed in the manner which will bev described for the several joints, respectively.

I have shown such a junction-piece in the various forms required at the different joints of a bicycle-frame of familiar type, and I will now describe these several j unctionpieces and in such description point out the characteristics of my invention.

The most difficult and most important joint on a bicycle-frame of the general pattern shown in Fig. l is that which occurs at the lower angle of the frame, from which two arms diverge upwardly, the one to the steeringhead or j unction with the bearing of the front fork and the other to the j unetion with the crease the bearing or seating surface of the cross-tube B, to which said elbow is rigidly secured by the process of brazing or brasssoldering, which may beprudently employed at this joint, both on account of the shortness of the cross-tube and of the fact that it is feasible to employ for so short a piece a heavier tube than it would be desirable to use for the frame in general, and because the axle passing through this and obtaining bearing in or upon it entirely removes any danger of bending it, and therefore entirely removes the objection to the employment of brass solder, which requires to make it flow a heat sufiicient to injure the tubing. The arms A' A2 of 'the elbow A thus constitute two. sockets, which are adapted to receive the tubular frame-bars C' 02, respectively, of the frame. It will be evident that these tubular frame-bars being inserted in said sockets will obtain very long contact or seat therein, and that by reason of the extent of such contact a very secure joint may be obtained with soft solder, which flows at comparatively low temperature as compared with hard solder or as compared with any process equivalent to welding, and that by this means the excessive heating of the tubular frame-bars necessary to make a joint with hard solder is avoided; but it is not necessary that the contact should be so extensive as it would be if the arms of the elbow Were left unmutilated, that is, of full tubular form throughout their entire length, and in order to lighten the joint as much as possible and at the same time retain the advantage of the extended contact to the full degree necessary, and the utmost desir-l IOO able value of the stiifening effect of the tubular clip or elbow, as well as to distribute this stiffenin g effect considerably over the framearms extending from the joint, I cut away the metal of the arms A' Ao, as shown at a' a2 and at ao and doo, respectively, at such lines that the stiffening strength of the clip-arm diniinishes from the point where the cut commences, thence outward from the elbow, substantially as the bending strain diminishes, and for t-he purpose, also, of distributin g any strain tending to break the arm; but I leave bands or rings or clasping-fingers A1o Aoo near the ends of said arms which completely (see Fig. 3) or nearly (see Fig. 6) surround the frame-arms C' 02, respectively. By this means I retain a long and sufficiently-extended contact between the inner surface of the elbow-arms and the outer surface of the frame-arms and prevent any danger of the ends A11 and AM, respectively, parting from the frame-arms, as a point having a small contacting-surface would be'liable to do in the absence of a rivet, which is undesirable, if it were not for the clasps Alo Aoo of the original tube left to bind the clip-arm in place on the frame-arm.

I have spoken of the elbows as tubular, the reference being to the finished form. I do not intend, however, to be limited to making it from tubing--that is, metal which is tubularat the commencement of the process-- since it will be understood that sheet metal may be folded into tubular form and joined with substantially the same effect.

In applying the principle of construction which is involved in the joint already described to the joint which occurs where the horizontal or approximately horizontal rear :fork-arms C3 Go and the cross-tube B are connected, having no occasion to form an. elbow, I merely notch the end of the tubular fitting I) and flange the edges of the notch to form a saddle or seat d', fitting on the cross-tube B, and at this seat I employ hard solder, as at the elbow of the yfitting A, and in cutting away the metal of the socket D' to reduce its weight, while retaining a sufficicnt portion suitably shaped to distribute the stiifness and prevent concentration of any breaking strain at the point where the socket terminates, I take intoaccount the fact that it is important to avoid anything which will lengthen the crank-axle or spread the cranks, as would be the result of increasing the dianeter of the tubular f raine-arms at the point where-the arm s of the fork divergin g slightly to embrace the wheel-one of them approaches the sprocket-wheel E, as seen in Fig. 2, and I therefore cut away the metal of the socket D' of the clipD at the sides, as seen at Do D2 in Figs. 2 and l. In this clip also I leave a clasping-band to prevent danger of the end of the clip parting from the tube; but I notch the ends of the socket at d3 to distribute the strain on the tube. i

In applying this invention to the junction of the fork-arms with the clips F F, which make the connection with the rear axle, I cut away the sockets F' F2, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, at the outer side between the ends of the sockets at Flo and Foo', leaving the two bands flo flo andfoofoo encircling the tubular fork-arms.

The form in which this invention is applied to the clip which makes the j unction between the fram e-arm C' and the steering-head G is seen in Fig. 1 and will be recognized as substantially the same as that which is employed in the fitting D.

At the head of the steering-forklapply the invention in the form of the fitting H, one branch of which is seen in side elevation in Fig. l, the other branch being similar and the whole fitting appearing in front elevation in Fig. 5. In this fitting, as will be seen by reference to the drawings, I cut away the metal from a line h parallel with the lower end of the tubular arm of the fitting, the cut at this line extending about two-thirds of the circumference, thence upward at both sides with a slight forward tendency until the two edges of the cut are a little less than one hundred and eighty degrees apart and thence directly upward substantially as high as the crotch of the fork, and then extending down toward the forward slide, leaving a tongue or bracing-lip H' at the front. The upper end of this fitting is shaped at HL to provide the customary ball-case for the ball-bearin g joint of the head.

The clip K, which makes the j unction between the upper horizontal frame-bar 'C4 and the steering-head G, is formed by cutting away the metal of the clip at the upper side at line 70, parallel with the rear end of the clip for something over half its circu'mferenee, the cutting-line extending thence in an upwardly-inclined direction to the upper side of the clip which it intersects a short distance back of the fianges K', which form the clasp by which the fittingis joined to the steeringhead G.

In the modified forms of socket shown in Figs. 6 and 7, which are applicable to any of the joints, though in those figures they are shown as applied to the joint at the crankaxle bearing, I have shown the clasp only partly encircling the tube near the end of the tapered terminal of the socket, but the spurs or serrations 'yg/ in a measure perform the function of such clasps and also serve to give the socket an ornamental appearance.

To all the forms shown of the device which serve the purpose of preventing the'danger of detachment of the tube from the tongue which constitutes the remnant of the socket I apply the term clasp, whether that device be in a form which completely encircles the tube, as in Figs. 2 and 3, or in the form in which the tube is only partly, but inore than half encircled, as in Figs. 6 and 7. In all the forms in which this clasp is shown it has the function of aifording increased surface for soldering wthout reproducing the danger of crys- IOO IIO

tallization from arrested vibration and of breaking by the concentration of the bending strain. When the clasp more than half encircles the tube, in addition to affording greater surface for soldering it resists detachment of the tube from the clip by its stiffness, because the fingers must be spread in order to detach the tube. VVhen the clasp is a complete ring, its tensile resistance to rupture is added to the stiffness by which it resists bending as a further means of preventing detachment of the clip fron the tube.

In all the forms in which the clasps do not extend entirely around the tubular arin of the frame the fingers or spurs which constitute such pair of clasps should be somewhat thicker than it would be necessary to make the` encircling ring of which they are the substitute or rudiment, and one pair should preferably extend past the plane of the greatest width of the tube clasped, as in Fig. 7, and it may also be desirable in such cases to use a somewhat stronger grade of solder than the soft tinneris solder, which is sufficient when the socket is elongated, as shown in the longer forms illustrated and provided in the ring-clasp near the end.

rllhe several joints shown in the frame illustrated represent three grades of junctions, the first grade comprisin g the j u nctions which may be secured by brazing, as that of the fittingA to the cross-tube B. The second grade comprises those which may be made with a solder requiring less heat than is required for brazing, but more than is required for the use of soft or tinneris solder, such, for eX- ample, as at the junctions of the arms 03 03 with the sockets of the fitting F. The third grade of joints are those which are long enough and are otherwise adapted for the use of soft solder or tinneris solder. Of this class are the j unctions of the bars O' 02 of the frame and the sockets AI A2 of the elbow-fitting A.

The process of brazin g may be employed at joints of the first class, and tinneris solder may be employed at jointsof the third class, and intermediate solder, such as silver solder, may be employed at joints of the second class where the grade of goods manufactured justifies the use of so expensive material.

I claimi l. In a velocipede-frame, a joint between two tubular arms comprising a tubular socket to receive one of the arms of the frame, such socket being partly cut away to taper it and to diminish its area gradually toward the end; and provided with an integral narrow clasp extending in a plane transverse to the tube and more than half around the latter near the end of the taper; substantially as set forth.

2. In a velocipede-frame, the joint between two tubularuarms, comprisin g a tubular socket to receive one of the arms of the frame: such socket being partly cut away to taper it and diminish its area gradually toward the end and provided with an integral continuous clasp completely encircling the tube in a plane transverse thereto near the end of the taper: substantially as set forth;

In a velocipede, a joint between two tubular parts of the frame, one of which extends endwise toward the side of the other, in combination with such two tubular parts, a clip by which they are united comprising a seat for the side of one of said parts and a tubular socket which is adapted to receive the end of the other, said tubular socket being partly cut away between a point a short distance from the seat and a point a short distance from the end, whereby there is left standing of such socket a rudiment to receive the end of the tube, and a narrow clasp to embrace the tube near the end of the clip, and a suitable area for soldering diminishing transversely from the rudimentary socket for a distance outward toward the end of the clip: substantially as set forth.

4:. In a velocipede-frame, a joint between the cross-tube which affords bearing for the crank-axle and the tubular bars of the frame, which extend endwise toward the side of said cross-tube; comprising, in combination with said tubes, a clip A comprising two tubular sockets adapted to receive the ends of the frame-bars and a transverse seat for the crosstube, said sockets being cut away at one side between a point a short distance from the seat of the cross-tube and a point a short distance from the end of the socket: substantially as set forth.

5. In avelocipede, in combination with the front fork-arms, the fitting H ad apted to form the head of the fork comprising tubular sockets H/ proceeding from the head H2, and adapted to receive the fork-arms respectively, such sockets being cut away at the front, the cut extending on both. sides, leaving the clam ping-ring h and the tongue I'I': substantially as set forth.

6. In a velocipede-frame, the joint between the cross-tube B and either side arm of the rear fork, comprising, in combination with said parts, a clip having a tubular socket adapted to receive the end of 'the fork-arm, and a transverse seat for the cross-tube B, said sockets being partly cut away to diminish their area gradually toward the end to prevent the concentration of the breaking strain, the material removed for that purpose being cut away from the sides, whereby the increase of distance between the crank-arms is prevented: substantially as set forth.

7. In a velocipede-frame, a joint between the cross-tube B and either side of the rear fork, which comprises in combination with said parts a clip having a socket to receive the end of the side arm, and a transverse seat for the cross-tube, the socket being cut away to diminishsits area gradually toward the end to prevent concentration of the breaking strain, such diminution'being effected by removing material at the side to prevent the increase of the spread of the pedal-cranks; a complete encircling ring D3 bein g left at the end to conloo IIO

nect the tongues D2 left standing by cutting` In testimony Whereof I have hereunto set away the sides, the tubular socket being' my hand, in the presence of tWo witnesses, at o notched at the end at two opposite points in Chicago, Illinois, this 11th day of May, 1895. line with the ends of sztid tongues respec- 'tively; Whereby the encircling ring is pre- THOS. B. JEFFERY.

vented fron causing concentration of the XVitnesses: breaking strain on the fork-arin: snbstan- 0. B. JONES, tially as set forth. V. S. HARTWELL. 

